The present honeycomb structure used by the Ford Motor Company as a substrate for auto exhaust catalysts have approximately 47 openings per square centimeter of front face surface. These substrates are manufactured from a ceramic material, essentially cordierite, and are made by an extrusion process. The resultant honeycomb has a plurality of cells which run the axial length of the honeycomb. These cells have a square cross section with an inside dimension of about 1.1 mm and are separated from one another by walls that are 150-250 micron thick. These cell walls are approximately 35-40% porous with the pores having an average diameter of about 10 microns.
It struck me that such a honeycomb structure could be used as a separator to form a high power, low total energy storage battery. The honeycomb separator will be used in a manner such that its cells define a plurality of separate anode and cathode compartments. With alternate cells being anode and cathode compartments, the structure allows for a high interface area between opposite electrodes with considerable strength. The power available from such a battery can be high if it is limited only by the electrolyte resistance in the passageway walls. Thus, by using such a honeycomb structure as a separator for a battery, a high power, low total energy storage battery may be constructed in a simple and efficient manner. Such a battery may be used in those situations where a large burst of power for a relatively short period of time is desired. One such application is the actuation of the starting motor for a motor vehicle.
Prior to the development of the specific type of structure proposed herein for a high power, low total energy storage battery, I was aware of such battery structures as thin flat plates which have the same characteristics. However, the prior known type of battery structure is different from that presently proposed in that the presently proposed structure has a much greater surface area between opposite electrodes.
I am unaware of any other proposals to use such honeycomb separators as the device for defining the anode and cathode compartments of a high power, low total energy storage battery. Prior art searches on my proposed system revealed no prior art of significant interest.